Caravan ~ England

Cunning Stunts (1975)

After Waterloo Lily, Caravan released For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night as well as the live Caravan and The New Symphonia, both of which I've covered already. So that takes us to Cunning Stunts, Caravan's 6th studio album and their final one for Decca. And it also signifies the end of an era for the great band from Canterbury. Though the band has continued on to this very day, they were never to be the same.

And really, Cunning Stunts signifies more their new beginning versus the past glories. In this way, it represents a different kind of bookend. They've definitely jumped the shark towards pop rock, though there are plenty of elements of their progressive rock predilection. Starting with 'No Backstage Pass', Cunning Stunts offers up an intriguing mix of both styles. This leads to their near side-long epic 'The Dabsong Conshirtoe', a fine energetic effort but faded compared to 'For Richard' or 'Nine Feet Underground'. This is the ride out in the sunset album. If you continue to follow them, you'll receive a Biblical 40 years lost in the desert scenario.

The CD adds three bonus tracks. One is the single version of 'Stuck in a Hole'. Another is an unreleased track called 'Keeping Back My Love' which probably should have been part of the album proper. And the big winner here is the 1974 live recording of 'For Richard' which was only previously on the compilation Canterbury Tales. An excellent performance of one of their classics.

Ownership: 1975 Decca (LP); 2001 Decca Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with three bonus tracks. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

1985 (first acquired); 2/9/13; 7/20/22 (review)

Waterloo Lily (1972)

Major changes happened upon the Caravan camp in late 1971 with the departure of key member David Sinclair to Matching Mole. His keyboards, in particular the fuzz organ, and his unique style of playing were out the door. In comes Steve Miller from the band-that-should-have-made-it Delivery. His style is more jazzy and he prefers the Fender Rhodes. So with that, Pye Hastings and Richard Sinclair take a bigger role in the songwriting for their next album Waterloo Lily. And there's quite a drop off in quality overall. At least from my perspective. Having owned this album in the same near-40 year timespan, I've generally regarded Waterloo Lily as their least great album until Cunning Stunts. Note I used the phrase "least great" rather than "worst" because I still think it's a worthy album, just not at the level of the others. Part of that is Miller's influence, or lack thereof. The other is Pye Hastings taking more control over the songwriting - or at least there are fewer progressive rock outings. However there's still two lengthy suites to consider. The first 'Nothing At All' is the jazzy sequence, very good on the whole but not exemplary. The other is why Waterloo Lily can still hang with their classics: 'The Love in Your Eye' which is definitely a look back to In the Land of Grey and Pink. There are a contingent of fans who prefer Waterloo Lily, or at least state it's at the same level as its predecessors. Mostly you'll read that the songs are better, and the other albums were too "jammy". So if you hold a similar opinion about Caravan's classics, and haven't heard Waterloo Lily, then rest assured this might be the album you enjoy most.

Ownership: 1972 Deram (LP). Gatefold; 1972 Brain (LP). Green Brain Metronome; 2001 Deram Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with four bonus tracks. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

7//85 (first acquired); 9//04; 1/15/14; 7/17/22 (review)

In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971)

It was the Christmas break of 1984 / 85, while in college. I headed over to Dallas' last Peaches record store which was in the process of closing, and they were liquidating their inventory. Among those in the racks was a sealed copy of In the Land of Grey and Pink. I had no idea what it was, or who Caravan were, but at 99 cents I decided I could afford to take chance with a cover like that.

Welcome to the world of Canterbury! This was my first as they say. Another new world was opened that had eluded me to that time. It was love at first hearing. Opener 'Golf Girl' wasn't so convincing on first blush, but once 'Winter Wine' finished, I knew I needed more of this sound! Whatever it was. I had no idea what Canterbury even meant. I'm not even sure I knew it was a region of England back then. A book by Geoffrey Chaucer maybe? As you all know as you're reading this, the best was yet to come for me. Flip the record over, and up comes 'Nine Feet Underground'. Which is about where I found myself (nine feet underground) as I was completely entranced by the sounds therein. I didn't even realize that the solos were entirely performed on an organ, thinking it was a guitar. Which was the point as it turns out, but it was a new sound for me. So much melody - so many great instrumental breaks. Superb vocals. It is the sound of Canterbury. As I state for my Non-Canterbury Canterbury list on RYM: "The sounds of the style are distinctive: Jazzy, highly melodic, pop influenced yet complex, psychedelic, often times instrumental, insouciant, and pleasant to the ear." We are now 37+ years on from that event, and every time I hear this album (including last night), it only gets better. Only Pye Hastings 'Love to Love You' is a bit tedious and it's here he begins his annoying trait of adding his little "ditties" as I called them on my For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night review. In any case, this was David Sinclair's great moment in the sun, as he dominates the recording. And then he left afterward, and Caravan would never be quite the same, even though he did return on For Girls... and The New Symphonia.

Conclusion: In the Land of Grey and Pink is one of the greatest albums of all time.

Ownership: 1971 Deram (LP). Gatefold; 2001 Deram Japan (CD) Papersleeve. Liner notes with five bonus tracks including the excellent unreleased 'I Don't Know Its Name'. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

1//85 (first acquired); 1//06; 9/18/19; 7/10/22 (review)

If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (1970)

Continuing on with my retrospective of Caravan. This is the album where they put it all together and is arguably their most consistent work. For my tastes, it's only surpassed by their next release. David Sinclair's fuzz organ comes to the fore, and the melodic quotient is very high. Even on tracks that seem to go nowhere like 'Hello, Hello' and the title track, there are mid section breaks that raise it two points. Guitarist Pye Hastings brings the high register vocals and bassist Richard Sinclair provides the oh-so-British accented baritone. Highlights include 'As I Feel I Die', 'With an Ear to the Ground You Can Make It' (suite), and the monster opus 'For Richard'. This latter track was the signature song on If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, and was played live for many years to come, oftentimes as their grand finale. If for some reason Caravan has evaded you to date, then I can certainly recommend this album as a starting point. Or the next one of course...

Ownership: 1970 Decca (LP); 198? Decca (LP); 2001 Decca Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with four bonus tracks  including the unreleased 'A Day in the Life of Maurice Haylett'. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union. 

I kept the 80s reissue since it was the first copy I found.

8//88 (first acquired); 2001; 7/8/22 (review)

Caravan (1969)

I thought I'd written about all the Caravan albums in the past, but apparently I've only tackled two of them, and not the best ones either. Ha! So time to start a retrospective. Not that I have much to say here. Caravan's history is well documented, and this debut shows the group as a very raw entity at its beginning. Which is part of its charm. They were nowhere near the level of their other former bandmates (from The Wilde Flowers) Soft Machine at this stage of their career. But they caught up fast, and arguably surpassed them in short order. Highlights here include the organ-up-front 'Place of My Own', Jimmy Hastings' first of many cameo's 'Love Song with Flute', and the closer 'Where But For Caravan Would I?' which predicts their future closing opus' that ultimately defined Caravan's place in history.

The CD includes both the mono and stereo versions are included. They also added the 'Hello, Hello' 45 single which technically goes with their next album, but they didn't have the master tapes at the time it was reissued. Shortly thereafter they did find them and added it to this reissue instead. 

Ownership: 1972 MGM (LP). Alternate cover; 2002 Verve Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with bonus tracks. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

1985 (first acquired); 6/30/22 (review)

For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (1973)

In late 1984, at age 20, I happened upon a sealed copy (US London) of In the Land of Grey and Pink. It was 99 cents. I had no idea what it was, but it looked awesome, so I took a chance and that's about all the money I had anyway. Jackpot. That, predictably, had me go on a Caravan seeking mission. With that prelude, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (again US London) was quickly secured at a used record store in Lubbock called Lipps*.

This album isn't nearly as immediately likable as Grey/Pink is, and it was always on the margins of whether or not I should keep it. About a decade later it finally penetrated through my thick skull, and today I consider it one of their better albums. The thing about Caravan is that you have to sit through what I call the "Pye Hastings' Ditties". They're not bad songs per se, but more geared toward the whiskey drinking nightclub set, rather than the psychedelic backdrop of their best work. And on For Girls, those ditties are front loaded with 'Headloss' (second half of the much better 'Memory Lain, Hugh'), 'Hoedown', and 'Surprise, Surprise'. One can get disinterested early. Suddenly 'C'Thlu Thlu' pops in with an angular King Crimson like sound (also not a known Caravan quality), and it's very disorienting. But Side 2 is as good as anything Caravan ever released. And it closes with one of their best epics in 'A Hunting We Shall Go', which is classic Caravan, with Dave Sinclair's fuzz organ driven solos, just as God had intended music to be. This is the album that introduced long time member Geoffrey Richardson to the fold. His viola is a very welcome addition to the Caravan sound, and one wonders how much better the early albums would have been had he been on them. Caravan were never to reach these heights again, though the follow up Cunning Stunts certainly is worthy of investigation as well.

If in the market for the CD reissue, be sure to find any of the Deram based reissues (starting in 2001), as they feature five bonus tracks. The first four are alternate recordings of the album proper, and are interesting but not essential. The grand prize here is 'Derek's Long Thing'. After Richard Sinclair and Steve Miller departed following Waterloo Lily, there was a lineup that included Derek Austin on organ and Stuart Evans on bass. This is the only known surviving work from that period. Hastings stated that Austin wasn't a good fit for Caravan, because he was "too much Hammond organ". One cannot have too much Hammond organ in my world! This track is awesome, and one wonders what would have been produced had they stayed on board (Richardson was part of the same package).

*Lubbock is in West Texas, and where I attended college. Lipps was one of a handful of good used record stores we had in the area in the 80s. They had taken over an old Piggly Wiggly grocery store, so it was a big place. It closed down while I was still in college (...so last week. Noooooo. 1986 I think?)  But here's the interesting part. Our neighbor here in the suburban Fort Worth area, who lives precisely two doors down from us, is the older brother of the owner of that store! How crazy is that?

Ownership: 1973 Deram (LP). Gatefold; 2001 Deram Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with bonus tracks. Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

2//85 (first acquired); 1995; 1/31/14; 4/7/17 (review)

Caravan & The New Symphonia (1974)

This concert catches Caravan during their For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night phase. A fine mix of progressive rock and pop (in that order) are on display, complete with a full orchestra. The version of If I Could's 'For Richard' is splendid here. As is Waterloo Lily's 'The Love in Your Eye'. These are two of the finest compositions in Caravan's canon (perhaps only bested by 'Nine Feet Underground') and the execution is fiery for both, and the orchestra only enhances the experience. In addition to that, if you obtain any of the reissue CDs with the full concert added as bonus tracks, you will hear For Girls' most progressive track 'A Hunting We Shall Go' with a nice arrangement, and was originally the encore to the show. Contrary to some of the reviews I've read, I don't find this album superfluous at all, and holds up well on its own. Though a live album, this is hardly a straight run-through of studio material.

Ownership: 1974 Deram (LP); 2001 Deram Japan (CD). Papersleeve. Liner notes with bonus tracks (the full concert as noted in the review). Part of the Caravan box set as released by Disk Union.

1985 (first acquired); 1/9/16; 10/26/16 (review)

10/26/16 (new entry)